Atlanta (July 7, 2003) -- In a move that shocked industry veterans, Art Bowman, editor of newsletter Bowman's Accounting Report, has left the company to pursue a solo consulting career.
Bowman said his relationship with publisher Hudson Sawyer -- which dated to 1987 -- ended last Thursday.
"I'm just looking to expand in my consulting role and as an analyst in the profession," Bowman told WebCPA. "I was doing the same thing I'd been doing for 23 years. And I have some other ideas I'd like to work on."
Bowman said he's already been contacted by friends in the profession about working with them, and plans on forging closer ties with the hundreds of "firms around the country where I've developed great relationships."
Bowman said he remains a shareholder in Hudson Sawyer, but would be surprised if the company kept his name on the masthead since he will no longer be involved in its production. "I can't imagine that they can keep the name," he said. "Bowman's seems to indicate that Art Bowman's doing the newsletter in some way or other."
But Hudson Sawyer president Martha Sawyer assured WebCPA that the publication's name will stay the same. "It's been Bowman's Accounting Report since 1987 and we look forward to growing and expanding Bowman's and for it to continue to be a fabulous newsletter and information source for the profession," she said. "We wish Art the very best."
Sawyer said the annual Management Summit conference will also continue to be held and branded with the name Bowman's Accounting Report. "We may even make some changes and do some new things," she added.
Over the past couple years, subscribers to the $295/year Bowman's noticed that monthly issues began arriving late, or not at all. Bowman attributed the delays to a badly broken arm and a long jury duty stint, but in December of 2002, Sawyer hired Julie Lindy, who once worked at Public Accounting Report, as editor. Lindy worked feverishly to produce the missing newsletters when she came on board, but Bowman was still listed as sole editor, and Lindy's name was absent from the publication until recently.
"The departure of Art is a bit strange given that he's the famous person connected with Bowman's Accounting Report," said industry consultant Allan Koltin. "While I trust it's in good hands with Julie Lindy as their editor, one has to wonder if there may have been some fallout between Art and Martha over who's the majority owner of Bowman's Accounting Report."
Bowman's Accounting Report is published monthly, and bills itself as "the profession's authoritative independent newsletter of record, reporting and analyzing the news, trends, strategies and politics of the profession." Sawyer said the company does not disclose the number of subscribers to the newsletter, but said it circulation has remained steady and even grown a bit over the past year.
-- Tracey Miller-Segarra
